1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of convertible garments and, more particularly, to a jacket and pants combination.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art of clothing to have jackets and pants that may be attached together in order to provide better weather protection for the people's waist area. However, a person wearing the jacket has to put on the pants and then attach the same to the jacket with a zipper or snaps. This is usually irksome because the person has to take off his shoes, put on the pants and then put his shoes back on; or take the risk of dirtying the pants by slipping them on over the shoes. In a public place, such as on a ski slope, this process is even more uncomfortable and may even become embarrassing.
It is also known in the art of clothing to have pants which are not put on like conventional pants but which are rather attach with snaps around each leg. This is usually done by having the pants in the form of two panels that may be brought together like cylinder around the user's legs and then closed as such by attaching their sides together using a number of spaced apart snaps placed on facing lateral edges of the panels. However, such pants are sold apart from the jacket, as a physically stand alone garment. Thus, people had to carry on these pants separately from the jacket, in a little bag for example, in order that they be available upon the need to wear them appeared.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,243 issued on Aug. 20, 1991 to Tatsuno discloses a jacket having an external pocket on the outside of the jacket which contains a covering jacket to be worn in bad weather conditions. Since the pocket of this jacket is external, it opens rearwardly of the user. The optional jacket is ready-to-wear once removed from the external pocket in that it does not require any assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,838 issued on Jan. 7, 1992 to Senser refers to a convertible outerwear garment similar to the previous one, except that the pocket containing the second jacket is internal. The pocket opens upwardly so it seems almost essential that the jacket be removed for allowing the second jacket to be pulled from the internal pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,122 issued on Jan. 12, 1988 to Steverson discloses a coat which may be converted so as to assume any one of three different lengths (see FIGS. 3, 4 and 5). The coat bottom part comprises two panels which may be brought around the legs to form a pair of pants (see the coverall of FIG. 2) using buttons as fasteners. The legs in the intermediate raincoat length and short car length positions thereof are simply folded back inside the coat and attached thereto on its inside surface.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,072,776, Routery discloses a jacket having a pair of pants integrally attached thereto. These pants are not intended to be retracted within the jacket at any time and the garment is put on by slipping the pants over the legs in a conventional manner and by then putting the arms through the sleeves of the jacket which is thereafter closed over the torso and fastened shut, as seen in FIG. 3.
As to U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,892 issued on Jun. 26, 1979 to Gonzales, it discloses a sleeping bag which converts to a jumpsuit, wherein at the level of the pants, the front panel sections 33 are secured at their outer edges to the rear panel sections 41. When used as a sleeping bag, the front sections 33 are secured together with zippers 34 as are the rear sections 41 with zippers 42, whereby the lower section 17 forms a large pouch; in the jumpsuit arrangement, each front section 33 is secured at its inner edge with a corresponding edge of a rear section 41 by way of cooperating zippers 34 and 42 thereby defining a pant leg (see FIG. 3). The pants are not retractable within the jacket and each pant leg requires two distinct and separate zippers.